Zimbabwe has always had one broadcaster which is owned by the state. The only other broadcasters are privately-owned and operate outside the country and have a limited reach compared to the public broadcaster. It has therefore been an area of serious concern that the public broadcaster has been seen to give preferential coverage and treatment to the former ruling party, ZANU PF. This has been bitterly contested by opposition parties. Although the Supreme Court struck down the monopoly of the state broadcaster almost ten years ago in the Capital Radio case, reforms to allow private broadcasters have been slow and ineffective. For this purpose ZEC may request the assistance of the Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe in monitoring the conduct of the media during elections. It is therefore of critical importance that the only public broadcaster is being legally required to treat fairly all parties in an election. Print Media and Broadcasters • Similar rules of fair play apply to other broadcasters and the print media. Section 160H deals with political advertising. Although no broadcaster or print media is obliged to publish political advertisements, if it is prepared to do so on behalf of one party, it must offer the same terms and conditions to all other parties contesting an election. The rules also ensure that the cost is not prohibitive. This requirement for equal and equitable treatment means that both the public and private media are legally required to give fair coverage to all parties contesting an election. • Section 160J is of critical importance to all media houses as it covers things that they must observe in their news coverage, including separating factual reporting from opinion, retracting errors in a prominent manner, providing parties contesting an election with the right of reply, ensuring that all parties are treated equitably with regards to the extent, timing and prominence of coverage. The requirement of fair-play in coverage must also take into account that coverage can tick all the boxes on timing and prominence but it would be unfair by reason of bias. Fair coverage must therefore be extended to ensure that where the weight of coverage is negative, this would fail the test of fairness. This must be clear and specific to ensure that media houses 40